067: Day 80: June 27, 2021: Deer Lodge to Ovando MT: 63.5 miles today and 3234 in total (m272.8)

We had another good day today. We completed the 63 miles between Deer Lodge and Ovanda in record time. We took about 6 hours, with an average speed of more than 10 miles per hour, mainly because long sections of road had no or very little shoulders and the roads were very busy. 

We came to the conclusion that RV/Trailer/caravan drivers do not know how long their vehicles really are. After passing us, there is invariably some cutting in in front of us. Not good. 

In Deer Lodge we noted this sign up at the hotel. People want the hotel to open up again. 

There was a Draft Horse Expo in Deer Lodge this weekend and this was the sign post.

The scenery is so much what Montana is about, Big Sky, but also beautiful when you look around. We were happy to see the Merino sheep in the paddock. This means there would be more lamb available soon. 

We climbed out of the valley via the Beck Road and looked back over the I90 and the Clark Fork River valley.  

The Beck Hill road became a gravel road and we took time to complete this section. However, the scenery was beautiful.

Dropping into the Little Blackfoot River Valley, we came to this meadow and 

cows resting under the trees next to the river.

Christine says I have a train magnet. I do not mind seeing a train anywhere.

Close to Avon we cycled past 

these interesting rock formations.

We passed these cows grazing around an abandoned homestead.

One was even interested in us. 

Looking back towards Avon, we noticed the climb we completed, but also had a good view of the road with no shoulders. We had 33 miles of this and really tried to cycle as fast as possible to get away from the traffic.

We saw some real haystacks.

We stopped at the gate of the Little Valley Ranch for a quick lunch of bagels with crunchy peanut butter and honey.

Christine was determined to finish the honey, a bottle that we carried all over the States from Rehoboth Beach.

Would you like to have a farm in this area? 

We cycled past the Nevada Creek Dam. It 

is beautiful both looking upstream and

downstream.

We soon came to the end of the Route 141 and saw these interesting mountain roads before the intersection with Montana Route 200. 

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The roads remained extremely busy.

We stopped at the Blackfoot River and got literally eaten by mosquitoes. We had a good chat with two motor cycle riders, one had a trailer with two dogs with him, but said goodbye very quickly to get away from the mossies.

We cycled over the North Fork of the Blackfoot as well

and soon could see Ovando in the distance. Trixi's is on the corner in the valley below.

We completed our trip for the day and walked in for some cold drinks and

a wonderful early dinner.

The owner was also very helpful and allowed us to drycamp next to the restaurant. The day worked out well for us.

In addition, Lizl called us last night with the news that my Green Card biometrics appointment is set for July 12. This works out well, as we should be about an hour south of Coeur d'Alene on Friday, July 2. This would give us a break of about 10 days where we can look after Mia and Michael while Mom and Dad are getting things ready for the move to their permanent home.